VAW, Law and US!

To evaluate presentation, trends and management of violence against women and children at a tertiary referral center in Mumbai and to suggest ways to optimize handling of sexual assault cases.

Retrospective descriptive case study.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, HBTMC, and Dr. R. N. Cooper Hospital, Mumbai (tertiary teaching hospital).

A total of 1449 cases of alleged sexual assault from January 2015 to December 2019.

A retrospective descriptive study was conducted, of all the reported incidents of alleged sexual violence managed by department of OBGY from January 2015 to December 2019 at a tertiary teaching hospital in Mumbai.

During the study duration 1449 cases of alleged sexual assault were seen in our facility. A steady rise in the number of incidents of sexual assault over the past 5 years was noted. In our study, we found one-third of the survivors were children below 15 years of age. Forensic samples were collected in 21% cases. Counseling by onsite NGO showed positive trend over the years.

There is growing recognition that violence against women has a health impact, in addition to being a gross violation of women's human rights. There was a steady increase in the number of cases coming to us; increasing awareness of the law, collaboration with NGOs, and provision of services under one roof may be the reason for this.

Violence against women is a public health problem of epidemic proportion. There is urgent need to integrate these issues into clinical training for health-care providers. All efforts need to be made to ensure the right of the survivors to healthcare is upheld and appropriate physical and mental health services are available without discrimination and are accessible, acceptable and of good quality.